Riding the White Pass & Yukon Route: which trip, which side, what to bring

By Skagway Times editors · Checked October 18, 2026

The White Pass & Yukon Route is a narrow-gauge railway that climbs from sea level at Skagway to almost 3,000 feet in about 20 miles. For most cruise passengers it is the one excursion they plan around. Here is how to choose a trip, where to board, and what to know before you go.

Pick your trip

The railway sorts its trips into a short summit ride, one-way runs into Canada that pair with a motor coach, and a full-day journey to Bennett and Carcross. Here are the main 2026 options.

Sources for the table: Summit, Steam, Fraser, Carcross, Bennett, One Day Combo. Infants up to age 2 ride free on the trips that list an infant rate.

The Summit Excursion is the fit for most port days. It climbs past Bridal Veil Falls, Inspiration Point and Dead Horse Gulch, turns around at the summit, and needs no passport. The 2026 season ran April 30 to October 7, with some dates skipped.

The Steam Summit Loop covers the same 40 miles behind a 1947 steam locomotive, in limited-capacity cars with tables, a light snack and drinks.

Fraser One Way is the building block for train-and-bus combinations. Northbound trains leave the Skagway depot at 7:40 a.m. and 12:40 p.m. (rail time), arriving at Fraser at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.. Fraser is where passengers go through Canadian customs.

Carcross One Way runs 67.5 miles to the lakeside village of Carcross, Yukon, departing Skagway at 7:45 a.m. and arriving at 12:15 p.m., with a 45-minute layover at Bennett, B.C..

The Bennett Scenic Journey is the railway's full-day trip: train one way between Skagway and Carcross and motor coach along the Klondike Highway the other, with a 45-minute stop at Bennett's 1903 station and gold rush townsite and a boxed lunch on board. Bennett can only be reached by the train or on foot via the Chilkoot Trail. Departures are 7:45 a.m. by train or 9:30 a.m. by bus, and the 2026 season ran May 26 to September 12.

Where you board

Cruise passengers who book through Princess or Holland America board on the pier alongside their ship. The railway's dock page says the Railroad Dock has rail service right on the dock, and that rail service begins at the end of the Broadway Dock. It does not say the Ore Dock has rail service.

Be aware that the Railroad Dock has had rockslide trouble. Alaska Public Media reported in August 2025 that it had been closed to pedestrians since 2022, with passengers shuttled or taken by water taxi to their ships. Ask your cruise line how boarding will work on your date.

Independent riders start at the Skagway depot. A Points Guy guide puts the station at Broadway and Second Avenue and notes that the piers are a 5- to 10-minute walk from downtown. The railway's restored original depot on that corner is now the National Park Service visitor center.

Which side to sit on

The railway does not say which side is best. A Cruise Critic reviewer who rode down from Fraser to Skagway wrote that there is much more to see on the right-hand side of the train on that southbound run. A travel blog by Jason and Rae Miller says most visitors find the left side offers the best views and suggests switching sides for the return on a round trip. Both point to the same side of the track: right going down is left going up. Many seats will have a decent view anyway, and guests can step onto the open platforms at the ends of each car.

Passports and the border

The international border sits at the White Pass summit, milepost 20.4, at 2,865 feet. The Summit trips turn back before you need to clear Canadian customs, so no passport is needed. Every trip to Fraser, Bennett or Carcross requires one.

Canada's border agency, the CBSA, recommends that U.S. citizens carry a valid passport. It also accepts a combination of documents that together prove name, date of birth and citizenship, such as a birth certificate with photo ID or a U.S. enhanced driver's license. U.S. permanent residents arriving by land or water can show their permanent resident card. Citizens of other countries may need a visa or an Electronic Travel Authorization and should check with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. Adults traveling with a minor who is not their child, or without the other parent, should carry a consent letter; the CBSA suggests having it notarized.

You also need to get back into the United States. Norwegian Cruise Line, for its Yukon tour, asks guests to carry a passport or another document compliant with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, such as a U.S. passport card or enhanced driver's license. Because the train's own pages simply say "passport required," a passport book is the safest choice.

Accessibility

The Summit and Fraser trains are wheelchair accessible, but space in lift-equipped cars is limited, so mention the lift when you book. The Steam Summit Loop, Carcross One Way and Bennett Scenic Journey trains have no wheelchair lift. Each railcar on those trips has a restroom. The railway also publishes an accessibility plan and takes questions at 1-800-343-7373.

What to bring

The railway's own packing advice is short and sensible:

• Layers. The cars are heated, but the trip climbs to almost 3,000 feet and the platforms are cold.
• Sunglasses. Snow at the summit, especially in May, can be bright.
• A charged camera or phone with a strap. Cell service ends a few miles out of town.
• Your passport for any trip past the summit.

Each seat has a booklet with a rail map and mileposts, and orange mile-marker signs on the left side of the train show where you are. Bottled water is included on the summit trips.

A short history

Construction began on Broadway in Skagway on May 27, 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush. The White Pass trail it replaced had been so brutal for pack animals that an estimated 3,000 horses died in one year, giving it the name "Dead Horse Trail". Rails reached the summit in February 1899, and the 110-mile line to Whitehorse was finished on July 29, 1900. About 35,000 people worked on it over two years. The railway says grades approach 3.9% with 16-degree curves.

During World War II the U.S. Army leased the railroad from 1942 to 1946 to support Alcan Highway and pipeline work. Operations stopped in 1982 when metal prices fell and mines closed, and the line reopened in 1988 as an excursion railway. In 1994 it was named an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, commemorated jointly by the Canadian and American societies of civil engineers, with plaques in Skagway and Carcross.